Fulton BID Gaining Momentum
With an end finally in sight for the infrastructure and repaving work that has plagued the already-down-on-its-luck stretch of Fulton Street in Clinton Hill, momentum is building for a new Business Improvement District to help improve the quality of life and retailing environment. There’s a meeting tonight at the Fort Greene Senior Citizens Council, 966…
With an end finally in sight for the infrastructure and repaving work that has plagued the already-down-on-its-luck stretch of Fulton Street in Clinton Hill, momentum is building for a new Business Improvement District to help improve the quality of life and retailing environment. There’s a meeting tonight at the Fort Greene Senior Citizens Council, 966 Fulton Street (between St. James Place and Grand Avenue) at 6:30 p.m. tonight hosted by Council Member Letitia James. Update: Thanks to cobblehller for providing this link to information on the proposed BID. Importantly, the site states that the BID is to cover the entire stretch of Fulton from Flatbush to Classon as well as some side streets.
I also doubt that there are too many drug fronts among the delis on Fulton (at least the stretch I frequent, Washington to Grand). Crappy some of them are for sure, but drug fronts I doubt it.
Also, What, my favorite coffee shop (Outpost) is on the stretch of Fulton that you describe as being doomed to failure. Hopefully the very thriving nature of their business will show people that you can do well on that stretch.
Well wasder…you know how optimistic I am…some say too much.
But one would have to guess that if Fulton did not improve in the last 10 years in which the neighborhood saw a huge influx of wealth, it seems fairly certain that a gentrification isn’t on tap for the next few years as we enter into the worst economic times since the Great Depression.
That strip is really really depressing, and it’s going to take a huge amount of involvement by everyone to get it on a better track. If half those places don’t want it…guess what…it’s not going to be successful.
To compare that, I believe 95% of the businesses in the 5th Avenue BID were supportive of that when it happened.
This strip of Fulton resists change, and I’d take a closer look into why that is, because I have heard many instances of drug dealing and cops “in” with the drug dealers in this area, so why not the bodegas?
Just because someone is “nice” does not mean they don’t sell weed.
“ENY: You know better? Doubt it. Don’t pretend you know somehting you don’t.”
Pretend….like you did earlier? First of all, STOREFRONT crack dealing died in the 1990s. How do I know this? For one, I grew up in East New York, the son of a city correction officer, whose dad’s friends were primarily police officers. They talked “shop” quite often. I still have friends who are police officers. Secondly, I’ve lived in Brooklyn all of my life and I know a crack spot when I see one. OK, maybe there are one or two crack spots on Fulton (which I doubt), but overall, the crappy stores are just that – crappy stores. Thirdly, I was previously a reporter for NYC newspapers and covered many crime stories. So let’s just say I know what to look for when it comes to street criminality.
Now let’s hear your qualifications.
Wasder: You have probably done more about this one issue in one afternoon than the What has ever done in his entire life.
I’m going to leave you retards this little tidbit..
Times Co. to borrow against building
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/08/business/08times.php
The New York Times Company plans to borrow up to $225 million against its mid-Manhattan headquarters building, to ease a potential cash flow squeeze as the company grapples with tighter credit and shrinking profits.
The company has retained Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate firm, to act as its agent to secure financing, either in the form of a mortgage or a sale-leaseback arrangement, said James Follo, the Times Company’s chief financial officer.
The Times Company owns 58 percent of the 52-story, 1.5 million-square-foot tower on Eighth Avenue, which was designed by the architect Renzo Piano, and completed last year. The developer Forest City Ratner owns the rest of the building. The Times Company’s portion of the building is not currently mortgaged, and some investors have complained that the company has too much of its capital tied up in that real estate.
The company has two revolving lines of credit, each with a ceiling of $400 million, roughly the amount outstanding on the two combined. One of those lines is set to expire in May, and finding a replacement would be difficult given the economic climate and the company’s worsening finances. Analysts have said for months that selling or borrowing against assets would be the company’s best option for averting a cash flow problem next year.
The only way for this to stop is a depression and I will get my wish. The only way we can save NY is to burn it to the ground….. I want to see all the keyboard warriors out there, punks!!!!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
It is a problem you losers, but we don’t sit back and say it’s OK. And when I say we, I mean everyone in the community that cares, regardless of race or socio-economic background.
One of the reasons these areas fell into disrepair is that there were too many “what’s” around who discouraged people from trying to make changes and tried to intimidate people who aggitated for change.
The fact that you two (what and cobblehiller) don’t get that indicates that you never were and will ever be part of the solution. But feel free to ride our coattails as the community makes things nicer for idiots like you.
I will also add that the guys in the deli are sure that the BID will be imposed upon them despite their resistance. Interesting…as a casual observer I had assumed that the local businesses would be in support.
Well, I just did a little informal survey of businesses on Fulton from Washington to Grand. At least half of the stores there have “No to BID” signs in their window, indicating a fairly widespread and organized resistance to the BID. These include most of the bodegas but also includes bigger businesses like the Met Foods and the Discount Superstore type place at Grand and Fulton.
As someone who is at least in concept supportive of the BID this widespread resistance is surprising to me. I went into my favorite little deli where the guys behind the counter know their customers names and are super cool and they don’t want to pay the dues that they will be charged. I asked whether or not they thought the BID would bring in business that outweigh the monthly costs and they were skeptical. I think, and hope, that they are just not thinking long term enough about this. But I am not in their shoes and am not going to criticize them for that attitude. And certainly from my walk I can say with some confidence that it is not just the little corner bodegas who feel this way.
What, I am surprised that you would say with such confidence that the stretch of Fulton between Grand and Franklin will always be bad. I look at Fulton and see potential but that is just little old “glass half full” me.
1. The street reconstruction project includes 100 new trees but the city is finding it difficult to identify suitable locations, due to the subway and sidewalk vaults. Contact the project field office if you want to suggest a planting site:
t: (718) 857-4894
f: (718) 857-4897
e: hwk973@verizon.net
2. The Department of Small Business Services requires any business improvement district steering committee to demonstrate substantial support (number of property owners in support; assessed value of the properties owned by supporters) before it begins the hearing process. I doubt that opposition at this point is going to stop the Fulton Street BID.